


Bathroom Break

by VermontScribble



Series: The Tea Tree [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Anthropomorphic, M/M, Tea, Victorian, it just makes sense, so i put that in, so tea makes you need to go more, though Earl may be ill, what do we know eh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21872515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VermontScribble/pseuds/VermontScribble
Summary: Earl has a problem, and Darji wants the details.
Relationships: Darji E Ling/Earl Grey
Series: The Tea Tree [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574923
Kudos: 1





	Bathroom Break

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said something about not writing more of these characters, but to be entirely honest I really wanted to after I found a very fitting prompt. Despite claims to myself being that I was going to write something else (or at least something fandom related) I still came back to these characters. Not that I don't like them, just that there are other things I need to be writing. Anyhow, I decided to write something more for these delightful bunch and here is the result. Enjoy.

Earl was an honest man -- most of the time, at least. He usually told people when something was amiss, and today seemed to be one of those days. Something just wasn’t sitting right, but it wasn’t him having those thoughts. Au contraire, it was Bergamot. 

Sat at a restaurant table, poking her fork into her pasta, was a rather concerned Bergamot. And Darji could tell she was on edge just by looking at her. She was always first to gobble down her meal; it was still sitting in her bowl, going cold. Something wasn’t right. 

“Is everything alright, Bergy?” Darji asks. She hates that nickname, but she wasn’t about to tell him to shut up. She wasn’t in the mood to do that, nor was she in the mood to even try to eat. She drops the fork and turns slowly. 

“Not really. I'm worried about Earl.” She sighs. Darji noticed the absence of his husband. The pale, lanky man abandoned the scene twice that night to run off to the bathroom, and things were starting to look a little more suspicious than either of them wanted. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him either, Bergamot. He’s been doing this a lot lately.” Darji sighs and leans his chin in his hand. It wasn’t going to be easy to ask why Earl seemed so needy for the bathroom. So what if it was a somewhat private ordeal? Darji deserved to know what was bothering him. 

Earl snuck back, dress shoes making the softest noise against the marble floors. He was a frazzled mess, his usually immaculate hair poking out in random directions and the dark bags under his eyes a great deal more prominent than they ever had been. Bergamot looks at him with the right amount of concern to make him duck quickly into his seat and hang his head. 

“You’ve gone to the bathroom fifty times today.” Darji says quietly. Earl bites his bottom lip and pokes his fork into his steak. It appeared it was his turn to poke at his food with no particular interest in eating it. 

“You’ve been counting?” He asks. Darji nods. It was unfortunate that he had done so, but it was unlike Earl to need to go to the bathroom so often. His tea drinking habits did mean he tended to go more often than normal people, but this was excessive and not at all normal in nature. Darji leans in closer to keep their conversation as private as he could and huffs. 

“Is there something I should know, Earl?” Darji asks. Earl makes himself quickly distracted by shoving a cold carrot slice into his mouth. Darji hates when Earl does that. It’s not blatant ignorance, but a form of it that made Darji’s blood boil. Clearly, Earl didn’t want to have the conversation and so busied himself instead. 

“I’m serious, Earl. This isn’t normal, nor is this behaviour like you at all. What’s gotten into you?” 

“None of your business, Darji.” Earl growls. He’s already paid for his food and he makes the point of being angry by swiping up his cane and storming out of the restaurant, leaving the doors to swing in shock as he went. Darji sighs and grabs his own possessions, hoping to catch up with Earl by the time he, too, hopped it to the doors.

“Rude!” Bergamot calls after him, and she makes quick work of the bill before darting after them both, long tea dress balled into her hand, the other holding onto her flat straw hat. This wasn’t going well at all. She assumed Earl must have been hiding something, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so quick to get out of there. She nearly skids over trying to run to catch up.

“Darji! Earl!” She shrieks. She’s running as fast as her little legs would carry her, but her dress is a nightmare and her shoes weren’t doing much to help. She wished she hadn’t had worn the hat too. 

Darji skids to a halt and swings round. Poor Bergamot with her curls mussed up and her dress nearly dragging in the dirt of the street. She looks disheveled already and she hadn’t even ran that far. Perhaps it was the speed she went at, because that girl could work up a sweat -- fast. 

“Sorry for leaving you, kiddo. I just -- I didn’t want Earl to go off home feeling like I was trying to upset him intentionally.” 

“Well, you didn’t catch up to him. Shame, that. Do you think we’ll be able to?” Bergamot asks. There’s a few carriages being pulled down the street and the occasional car rolls past, but no taxis in sight and not an empty stagecoach to be seen. That was just what they needed. Darji thinks the trains might be their best bet, but even those are slow and steady compared to running. Darji hoiks his cane up into his hand and makes for it, feet hitting the pavement hard and steady. Bergamot huffs, picks her dress up into her hands and darts after him. If she lost her hat, that would be the least of her worries.

“Earl! Wait!” Darji shouts after him. Earl is fast on his feet, long lanky legs keeping his paces ahead of the others. And his ignorance out of bliss had made him immune to the shouts of his partner. 

“Earl! Stop right this instance!” Bergamot shrieks. Her voice was shrill and high but she’s panting and sweating and really wishing she hadn’t rolled out of bed that morning. Earl was a hard one to deal with, his behaviour sporadic as it was annoying. 

“Why should I? You think there’s something wrong with me!” Earl calls back, but at least he’s stopped. Still and leaning against a lamp post just outside of their house. A large manor that was grand and impressive. People seemed to flock near it like bees to pollen, or moths to the large lamps lining the streets. Darji slaps a hand to Earl’s shoulder as soon as he could reach him and gives him the most incredulous stare. 

“I can’t believe you!” 

“Then don’t! I don’t want this conversation. I’ve got nothing wrong!”

“Then what’s with the bathroom breaks, Earl?” Darji asks. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes are dark with anger. Earl almost turns on his heel, yet finds himself under Darji’s stronger-than-should-be-normal grip. 

“I might have an illness. And don’t go telling me to see a doctor, you know what happened last time!” 

“You know what, Earl? Maybe lay off the tea.” Darji grins. He’d never seen Earl look so shocked in his entire life. A rewarding look indeed. He gestures to the house and, grabbing Bergamot’s hand gently, suggests they all go in for a rest. Or once, Earl agrees. 

**Author's Note:**

> Remember I take requests. Either leave it in the comments, send it to my Tumblr inbox (anika-writes-things) or send me and email (magpies0musings@gmail.com). I also like to do things in my own time, however, so if you do send a request please note that it may take me a little while to get to it although I will finish it, I promise. Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this, please consider reading other things I've written.


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